FCTA staff protesting appointment of new permanent secretary.
The Joint Unions Action Committee (JUAC) has coordinated the opposition of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) employees to the Head of Service of the Federation’s appointment of a Permanent Secretary (PS) for the FCTA.
Protesting employees demanded that the FCT Civil Service Commission (CSC) Law, 2018, which authorised the recruitment of PS from the FCTA, be fully implemented.
According to the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of twenty-four permanent secretaries to various federal ministries, divisions, and agencies.
One of the PSs impacted is Dr Magdalene Ajani, who was transferred from the Ministry of Transportation to the FCTA to succeed Mr Olusade Adesola, who is set to retire on January 29.
On Monday, Mr. Matilukuro Korede, president of the JUAC, spoke for the workers in Abuja and criticised the deployment, calling it a violation of the FCT CSC Law.
In October 2023, the law establishing a CSC for FCT was authorised for execution by the Federal Executive Council, as Korede remembers.
According to the president, Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan, the head of the federal service, lost the authority to choose a permanent secretary for the federal capital territory (FCT) because of this change.
Minister Nyesom Wike of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) revealed that President Tinubu had approved the creation of the FCT CSC.
Public employees in the FCT Administration would now be able to advance their careers to that of permanent secretaries, as Wike indicated.
He elaborated on how the lack of a CSC for FCT prevented the directors from reaching the pinnacle of their profession.
As a result, the president of the JUAC criticised the Head of Service’s behaviour and demanded strict adherence to the FCT CSC Law.
We learned on Thursday that the head of the service had declared that she had received President Tinubu’s agreement to send another permanent secretary to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
It was an outlier, and that made us feel wronged. Current events indicate that the FCT CSC Law was gazetted in 2018.” he stated.
Upon the FCT’s transition from ministry to administration in 2004, he claimed, the possibility of FCT employees becoming permanent secretaries was removed.
He went on to say that the FCT CSC law that dealt with the situation was signed in 2018, but that it was not implemented until Wike took it up and, in less than a month, got President Tinubu’s OK.
Surprisingly, though, the Head of Service did decide to choose someone to serve as the FCT’s permanent secretary.
Regarding the FCT, it is appropriate to choose the permanent secretary from among the FCTA’s qualified directors rather than from outside the organisation.
A permanent secretary position is the pinnacle of professional achievement, and this will give FCTA employees a chance to reach their full potential.
We are demanding that the appointment of a permanent secretary outside of the FCTA be rectified because it is an oddity.
The FCT Civil Service Commission’s implementation is what they are now waiting for, he added.
In his opinion, the Head of Service should wait for the law to be changed before she may choose a permanent secretary from outside the FCTA.
“However, in the interim, compliance with the law is vital, and our current understanding is that the FCT CSC is here to stay,” he emphasised.
Wike had contacted the JUAC leadership to beg them to remain calm, and Korede also informed the protesting workers of this.
He added that the minister had assured them that he will meet with President Tinubu to discuss the matter and provide an update.
Thus, he ordered the workers to put down their swords and get back to work while he awaited the minister’s response, which would dictate the course of action to be taken.